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Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that he has sought advice on the legal measures that can be taken against members of Human Rights commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) for issuing an order to the Ceylon Electricity Board to provide uninterrupted electricity power during the two weeks period that GCE advanced Level examination is being held. The Advanced Level examination is a highly competitive examination that determines entrance into the state university system. Only 14% of the examination candidates annually enter into the state universities, due to limited opportunities available. After receiving many complaints from parents of students about continuous power cuts, HRCSL summoned all the relevant stakeholders including the secretary to the Power & Energy Ministry, chairpersons of Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), and two state banks to find out a way to stop imposing power cuts during the 2022 G.C.E. Advanced Level (A/L) examination. Accordingly, based on a collective agreement, HRCSL ordered that there shall be no power cuts until 17 February. PUCSL also made a similar order.
However, the Ceylon Electricity Board flouted the order of the HRCSL and the PUCSL and went ahead with the power cuts. The HRCSL then announced that it would take legal action against all those who flouted the order. On 27th of January, the Minister tweeted that he was informed that Ministry officials present during the HRCSL inquiry, were threatened with legal action and jail sentence by HRCSL members, and were forced to sign a document that they did not want. Later participating at a news conference, the Minister vowed to take legal action against the HRCSL members.

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